India's Olympians: Boxer, wrestler bring glory home

FIGHT TO FINISH: Wrestler Sushil Kumar (L) poses with his bronze, boxer Vijender Kumar after his win.

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New Delhi: India's fledgling Olympic campaign got a big boost on Wednesday when two men from the heartland of Haryana gave India its best ever medal haul at any Olympics.

The dismal record – of getting no medals at the Games – that’s been held for the last 56 years, is on the brink of being broken with India's Olympians assured to return home with at least three medals.

But how did it come about?

While shooter Abhinav Bindra’s shot at fame is stuff history is made of, India's wrestler Sushil Kumar won three consecutive rounds to win the bronze in the freestyle 66kg category on Wednesday. He is the second wrestler to do so after KD Jadav in the 1952 Games.

Sushil Kumar: Wrestling with fate

Sushil defeated Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan 3-1 in the repechage match of the men's freestyle wrestling 66kg to win India's India's first wrestling medal since the 1952 Helsinki Games.

With his first-round conqueror reaching the final, Sushil got a reprieve, as it were, and a place in repechage, which then gave him a chance to win three bouts in a space of 75 minutes and bring in India's second ever Olympic wrestling medal.

Sushil, a resident of Boprala village in West Delhi's Najafgarh area, won the fight in the extra 30-second period to ensure a podium finish, when everyone had lost hope after his first round loss Wednesday morning.

Sushil had gone down to Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine on points. But his slender hopes hung on the results of his conqueror, Stadnik, who went on to reach the final. That gave Sushil an extra lease of life as all wrestlers losing to the two finalists then contest the repechage.

Here's Sushil Kumar's path to that Bronze Medal in Beijing:

• He lost in the quarterfinal of the 66kg category wrestling to Andriy Stadnik of Ukraine 1-3 on Wednesday morning.
• But he fought back in the Repechage 1st Round bout.
• Sushil beat Doug Schwab of the USA 3-1.
• Then in his second repechage Round he beat Albert Batyrov of Belarus again 3-1 and then finally in the Bronze medal bout he overcame Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhastan 3-1